Rajasthan girl moves HC for release from shelter home

Nagpur: A girl from Bhilwara in Rajasthan, who was rescued a prostitution racket of minor girls was busted, knocked judiciary’s doors for her release from the government shelter home.
Claiming that she was not minor, she accused the police and special POCSO court of forcing her into illegal detention at the shelter home for minors who are usually rescued from prostitution business from red light and other areas.

A division bench comprising justices Pradip Deshmukh and Swapna Joshi adjourned the hearing of her case (WP No 1180/2017) till December 5 after hearing her side, prosecution and also Pune-based NGO Freedom Firm which was original petitioner.

Her plea was clubbed with PIL (No 4/2013) of Freedom Firm’s Mincy Mohan Baby through counsel Nihalsingh Rathod contending that the police rescued hundreds of such minor girls every year from the brothels.

However, when they were handed over to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), their parents or guardians took them on the basis of forged documents like school leaving or birth certificates where their age was shown over 18 years. These parents or the guardians then reintroduced them into whoredom. The counsel contended that this cycle continues as CWC doesn’t verify the girls’ credentials neither cross checks the documents related to age produced by them to take custody of girls.

While hearing NGO’s PIL, the HC’s division bench on March 6 directed the police to keep petitioner girl at Karuna Mahila Vastigruha. On a complaint filed by the NGO, the Lakadganj police on November 23, 2016, raided a house in Bangde Lane and arrested many women, including the petitioner, for illegally running a brothel and being a part of prostitution racket.

Offences under Sections 344, 366-A, 372, 373, 370-A of IPC, Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 of Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (PITA), 1986, and Sections 4, 8 and 12 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, were lodged against the accused persons.

The petitioner claimed that her age was deliberately shown as of 17 years by the police after which she was produced before the chief judicial magistrate’s (CJM) court which directed them to shift her to the shelter.

Her maternal aunt then filed an application on May 5, 2017 before the sessions’ court seeking her custody. It was rejected on July 7 last year. The girl clarified that she wanted to go with her aunt but without considering her wishes, the sessions court rejected her application, which forced her to move HC.

She pointed out that when she was caught in the raid her age was over 18 years. She argued that action of both lower courts can’t sustain and suffers from non-application of mind to the material placed on record. The maximum period of detention is three years, but no procedure was followed under the PITA Act by the police, neither any inquiry was conducted by the CJM. Therefore, her detention in the shelter home beyond November 24, 2016, is unauthorized and illegal, she pointed out.

Questioning the sessions court authority to keep her under detection without proper inquiry, the girl prayed for her immediate release and quashing the POCSO court’s orders of July 3 last year.